This will be a tough game to call. Prior to coming to life
in Minnesota last week, the Giants has not scored more than
10 points in the previous three games. The last home game
by the Jets was a 30-3 thumping of the Bills. Throw Chad Pennington
into the mix and the Jets may enter the game with more enthusiasm
than normal. This is the first time since 1999 they have met
in the regular season. How do you call a game with two home
teams? Particularly with the Giant's uncanny knack for blowing
a game late?

This is truly a coin flip game to me - the Giants come off
an emotional win on the road and they have yet to string two
wins together this year. The Jets always get more from their
defense than seems to be there and there are reasons to have
hope the offense is improving.

In the end, expect that the Giants take a close win thanks
to an ability to run better than the Jets and that Pennington
still has a bit of rust to work off.

NY Giants Notes

The Giants are 3-4 in the NFC East and come off a big win
over the Vikings.

Quarterbacks: After hitting
a dry spell for scoring, Kerry Collins has three touchdowns
in the past two games and against the Vikings threw for a
lofty 375 yards and two scores against only one interception.

Running backs: Tiki
Barber only gained 75 yards on 20 carries last week, but
scored once and had five catches for 47 yards. The Giants
relied on Barber more heavily again, allowing him the 20 totes
to only five for Dorsey Levens. Then again, Levens only had
five yards rushing.

Wide Receivers: With
plenty of passing yardage to dole out, the wideouts took the
biggest share. Ike Hilliard had a personal best nine
catches in the game for 100 yards and two touchdowns while
Amani Toomer turned three balls into 96 yards. Tim
Carter (2-45) continues as the occasional outlet. It was
easily the best passing effort of the year for the Giants.

Tight Ends: Jeremy
Shockey only had three catches but showed some speed (relatively
speaking) and some moves (relatively speaking) in gaining
81 yards. He had the fewest catches in a game since week one
but did a lot with the few he had.

Match against the defense:
The Giants may catch a break if DE John Abraham misses this
week with a strained groin. LB Mo Lewis is also having problem
with his hip and back but the results are not known yet. CB
Donnie Abraham has a fracture in his right shoulder and will
miss the next few weeks so Ray Mickens will take his place.

The Jets continue to be plagued with poor run stopping and
the defensive injuries may make it even worse. They gave up
100 yards to Correll Buckhalter last week and as one of the
worst rush defenses, it is a safe bet that Tiki Barber turns
in a nice game this week.

Kerry Collins will have a tougher time maintaining those
big passing numbers against a defense that has held every
opponent to under 202 yards passing though much of that is
a function of the running game going so well. Look for a lesser
week from Collins and the boys since the G-men can run and
are on their second road game in a row after a big win in
Minny.

NY Jets Notes

The Jets fall to 2-5 after losing to the Eagles last week.

Quarterbacks: The big
return of Chad Pennington happened last week. Vinny
Testaverde started the game but only had seven completions
on 11 passes for 112 yards which included a 60 yard flea-flicker
touchdown to Santana Moss. Pennington went 14 of 24 for 154
yards and one interception in the game. He was a little rusty
and his one interception killed the chances of the Jets, but
he is back and will be regaining form.

Running backs: Curtis
Martin has seen improving numbers the past five weeks,
ending with his season best game last week of 110 rushing
yards on only 20 carries. More impressive was that he did
that in Philadelphia. Lamont Jordan did come in and
take the one yard rushing score, but by this point Martin
just gaining yards is exciting.

Wide Receivers: Take
away the one 60 yard touchdown on a trick play by Moss and
none of the wideouts did much last week. Curtis Conway
(2-32) and Wayne Chrebet (3-44) were only marginally
more effective than the tight ends were. The more interesting
picture will be drawn this week as Pennington takes his first
full start of the year against a defense that has been fairly
good against the pass lately.

Tight Ends: Both Anthony
Becht and Chris Baker had two catches and combined
for 53 yards. That was actually fairly typical though a little
higher in yardage than normal. This week the duo face the
toughest team against tight ends.

Match against the defense:
The Giants secondary started the season terrible but have
really solidified over the weeks. After yielding 300+ yard
games each of the first three weeks, they have held opponents
at bay after the bye week. Bledsoe (202), Brady (112) and
McNabb (64) all turned in subpar games and while Culpepper
torched them for 241 yards and two scores last week, that
was almost entirely in the first half and mainly on a few
passes to Randy Moss.

Curtis Martin faces a defense that has yet to allow a runner
to gain 100 yards this year and that includes Ricky Williams
(39) and Travis Henry (53).

Team Comparisons - Current team
rankings (1-32) for FF points scored or allowed
by position